Round balls and white tails

[Jac Spring]

Sounds like the title of a huntin book doesn't it?

But no, its a question - for those of you that use a 50 with round balls for hunting (lets say Hornady swagged .490") - how well do they perform? Please give examples of distance shot, penetration, angle of entry, condition of the ball if recovered, what it hit on the way in/through, etc.

Not asking for much am I? :haha:

 

[RetiredMedic]

I taken 16 to 18 deer with the round ball, using the .45, .50 and .54 calibers. All deer were taken under 75 yards.
If you do your job and put the ball in the vitals, it will harvest you deer.

 

[bob1961]

all my .490 hornaday round ball shot out of my T/C hawken have been pass through's from 60 yards and under, even had one go through a high lung hit and below the spine between 2 ribs going in and going out that dropped in it's tracks at 40 yards :v .............bob

 

[BrownBear]

If you'll allow me to integrate the discussion to include blacktail as well as whitetail, RBs are great. I'm shooting 54, but results I've seen with friends' 50s tell the same story. I simply don't have the eyes or need venison bad enough to shoot past about 75 yards.

Took me 12 days of pretty steady hunting to get my buck this year (around 50 yards) but saw deer every day, often within my 75 yard range limit. It's all about hunting, and I'd have been through if I killed the first, missing out on the next 11 days of hunts. That's related to the spirit of using your ML to get close, passing up those longer shots that would be dead easy with anything else, even a ML with a scope. The last stunt is kind of like putting a jet engine on a cropduster.

 

[Enfield1]

I harvested a buck this past season. I used a Speer .490 roundball over an Oxyok wonder .10 patch and 70 grains of Goex 2FG powder. The distance was close, about 20-25 yards. The ball passed completely though the deer on a broadside shot behind the shoulder. I was not able to recover the ball. I would be comfortable with this load on deer-sized game out to atleast 50 yards, but I have been told it will do well further than that.

 

[sprucefly]

I've shot deer w/.490 in my T/C or a .429 in an old original Ohio rifle. All the balls passed through (no shot greater than 60 yards). All were shot through the chest either quartering on or sideways. No deer was moving by the time the smoke cleared enough to see what was going on. Patched rb is extremely effective. I've settled on 75 grains of 3F in the .50 and 60 grains of 3F in the .439 rifle.

 

[sprucefly]

I've shot deer w/.490 in my T/C or a .429 in an old original Ohio rifle. All the balls passed through (no shot greater than 60 yards). All were shot through the chest either quartering on or sideways. No deer was moving by the time the smoke cleared enough to see what was going on. Patched rb is extremely effective. I've settled on 75 grains of 3F in the .50 and 60 grains of 3F in the .439 rifle.

FROM THE END OF THE ROAD IN ALASKA

 

[Halftail]

I've killed 10 Deer now with 50 cal. Roundballs and witnessed a couple of more with the same.All ranges were from under 75 yards and in and at differant angles.Only one didn't pass completely through and that was a mature Buck standing headon at 50 yards.It took him square in the chest and he ran about 20 yards then piled up.I have complete confidence in the .490 Ball... :thumbsup:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

You will do well with the .50 PRB 75 yards and under with good placement from any angle. a good hit they won't go far. I've recovered 2 RB from 8 deer shot, only one did I have to track far due to shot too far back but it left blood after about 100 yards and tracked it down 1/4 mile away where I put another RB in it for keeps. it was moving in brush when I took the shot.

 

[BRUN]

I've killed 10 Deer now with 50 cal. Roundballs and witnessed a couple of more with the same.All ranges were from under 75 yards and in and at differant angles.Only one didn't pass completely through and that was a mature Buck standing headon at 50 yards.It took him square in the chest and he ran about 20 yards then piled up.I have complete confidence in the .490 Ball... :thumbsup:

Ya but they wont pass through RC :rotf:

 

[roundball]

Sounds like the title of a huntin book doesn't it?

But no, its a question - for those of you that use a 50 with round balls for hunting (lets say Hornady swagged .490") - how well do they perform? Please give examples of distance shot, penetration, angle of entry, condition of the ball if recovered, what it hit on the way in/through, etc.
Not asking for much am I? :haha:

Simply outstanding...several deer with a .50cal PRB from 25-65yds...all complete passthrough heart shots...one or two dropped where they stood but most bolt for a 25-35yd mad dash and fall within sight...never lost one yet.

TC Hawken Flintlock
90grns Goex 3F
Oxyoke wonderwad
.018" pillow ticking
Hornady .490
Here's an unlucky pair that came through one morning during the rut, about 30 minutes apart:

 

[longrifle78]

I hav shot a lot of deer with a .50 , killed 3 this fall, and i hav never had a ball go all the way through. The first two i shot this year were both broad side shot through the heart one at 7 yards and one about 35 the ball was under the hide on the far side , the third one was quartered to me at about 45 yds the ball hit his front leg shattered the bone and mangled the ball, the ball or what was left of it , lodged in the far side rib cage. All shots were 80gr. fff .490 ball with a denim patch from a 42'' barrel. Nice deer Roundball

 

[playfarmers]

I have taken between 15 and 20 whitetails with a .495 round ball ,pushed by 80g of 2f or Pyrodex RS.Three of those where just over 100 yards, two of them where complete pass throughs of the chest, and the third was a strait on shot that lodged in the spine. The rest of the deer where from 12 feet to 60 yards. I have recovered some round balls, and found them quite flattened out. I will try to dig them out and take a pic of them.

 

[Jac Spring]

Well thank ya'll for the excellent information and pics.

Sounds like I'll be sticking with the round ball and not worrying about going with the lee target mini.

So, 70 grains or more and a tight patch... haven't tried fffg yet either, so may check that as well.

And range - yeah, 75 or under is plenty good.

Again, thanks :hatsoff:

 

[Joel Boyles]

Haven't done any deer hunting with my m/l this season (just got it in Oct) but did bust a couple of good-sized hogs with it this fall, and was honestly impressed. Using 80gr. 3Fg, and .490 prb, it's pretty impressive under 75 yards. Based on my purely subjective opinion, I think it hits with more "authority" than a 30-30. Depending, of course, on how well the shooter does his job.

Enjoy today,

Joel

 

[Jac Spring]

Hogs - now there's an idea - we've got em aplenty in Texas too.

 

[Edwin]

Hogs - now there's an idea - we've got em aplenty in Texas too.

Where at in Texas are you?

 

[silverfox]

Never recovered a roundball from a deer out to 135 steps. Most under 75 yards. I did recover a Buffalo bullet (385 gr. Hollow point) from a Aoudad at about 90 yds. It broke a rib going in took out both lungs and broke 2 ribs on the far side ended up under the skin or opposite ham. Use RB on eveything now and stay under 100 yds.
Fox :hatsoff:

 

[jethro224]

- how well do they perform?

Speer .490
70grains 2F Goex
100 steps
Complete pass thru
2 ribs - 2 lungs
look close and you can see the entry hole @ 4" behind the elbow. Slight quartering away shot. Exit wound @ 1" behind off-side elbow.
He took 3 steps.
Works good for me! :thumbsup:

ps. loved the title

 

[Stumpkiller]

I've only ever recovered one .50 roundball from the four deer I killed with that combo. That was a mostly frontal shot at about 10 or 11 yards and the ball lodged in the hide behind the opposite thigh after tunnelling around the bone. The 0.490" ball expanded to 0.520" (I have been known to use scrap lead with tin solder in the mix). Deer reared up and collapsed without ever moving it's hind legs. Nice.

The ball recovered:

The other shots were broadside double-lung and complete penetration. 30 to 40 yards distance. Traveling about that far again before piling up.

The .50 is dandy, though I more normally carry a .54 (my .50 is a percussion and the .54 is a flintlock, though I have a .54 percussion I drag out on occasion). Never recovered any of the .54 balls. Always a pass-through. In my wilder and foolish youth I used 50 cal. conicals, though I can't say they were any better at the ranges I shoot.